Centrifugal drier



C. G. ADSET ET AL CENTRIFUGAL RIER l Filed March 24, 1932 3 SheeS-Sheet l All llllr CENTRIFUGAL DRIER Filed March 24, 1932 c. G. ADslT Ejr AL April 16, 1935.

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April mi, E935 c. ADSIT Er AL CENTRIFUGAL DRIER Filed MICh 24, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 www a Wlczd @y @y Patented Apr. 16, 1935 l UNITED l PATENT orifice 'y y l 1,997,621 l f i CENTRIFUGAL DRIR y Charles G. Adsit, DesMoines,` and Cre'irge Lewis', Grinnell, Iowa, assign'ors `to Grinnell Washing Machine Corporation,v Grinnell, Iowa,

4 ka corporationof Iowa Y i Application March 24, 1932,` ,Serial No.;600;89 9

, V t t 1 5 claims. `(o1. 21o-75) Our improved clothes drier may be used to ading the detachable flange at the topof the clothes vantage as anattachmentvfor a domestic i'/ashing container. machinef l 1 Y Y Figure 6 shows asectional view on the line 6-6 .One ofl our objects is to provide a machine of of Figure 5, and being also an inverted position. 18 the'centrifugal extractor type in whichywhen Figure 7 shows a sectional View on the line 5 the cover `of the clothes container is opened, even 'l-r-I Yof Figure 1- toa slight degree, the'rotation ofthe clothes con-l Figure 8 shows a sectional view on the line taiiier is instantly and automatically stopped to 8-58 of Figure '7. thereby avoid injury to the operator or the ma- Figure 9 shows an enlarged detail sectional View 10` chine. on the line 9 9 of Figure 1. l0

vAnother object is to provide a stationary drain Referring to the accompanying drawings, we and 'Work tableat the top of the drier for the have used the reference numeral i!! to indicate convenience of the operator, and so constructed generally the washing machine body. to which my as to drain water into the clothes drier through improved clothes drier is attached. The clothes 16 an `opening inthe center of the table; and also drier comprises a .cylindrical casing H open at l5 in this connectionto provide an adjustable drain its top and having a bOOm i2 Provided With a spout below the table for delivering Water from ball bearing device I3 for the drive shaft I4. This the extractor in any desired direction; drive shaft has on its lower end a beveled friction A further Objectis to provide a clothes drier wheel I5 to 'frictionally engage a drive friction 20 -ofthe class in wh-ich'a current of air is autowheel f6.` .The shaft and bearing are S0 arranged 20 mauoeily foreeddownvvardly through the center that the* shaft may slide upwardly and downof theelothes container,` then outwardly through wardly on thev bearing and may tilt laterally to a the clothesto Va point of discharge to thereby dry `slight extent for purposes hereinafter made clear. the clothes to a greater degree than vcan be 'done At the i011 0f the Casing H there is a Stationary by the centrifugal action only i, y trough l1 with an outer verticalwall lprojected 25 our invention consists in the construction, are upwardly above the topof the Casing and Xed to rangement and combination of the various' parte aoiroular combined drain and Work table I9, of the device, whereby the objects contemplated which has anupwardly extended flange 2li at its are attained, eis-hereinafter more fully set' forth, periphery.` The bottom of the table preferably so pointed out incur olonne, and i11ustrated in the inolines downwardly and 1 inwardly toward the 30 accompanying drawings,`in which: center theleO Figure-renews evertioo1',eentra1,seononeuvievv The Center of the Work table is open and a illustrating our invention and showing-a portion hinged `@over member 2l is mounted therein. VAt ofthe washing machine Vtub upon which it is the side ofthis` cover member opposite from the supported. f hinge is a latch 22 for locking the cover in closed 35 Figur'2 `'shows aside elevation of a washing POSOII- l the bOl'flO-m' Offl'fhe trough H iS a machine tub and our improved centrifugal-drier Series of openings 23, and these openings are applied thereto. l l preferably inclined as shown in detail in Figure 9, Figure y3 shows atop or plan view of a Washing inthe same direction as the path of rotation of 40 mfjhinefwith Cui' improved @entrifugal-drier apthe clothes container, they being extended down- 40 plied theretoand illustrating two other tubs vlo- Wadly and forwardly relative t0 Said P250?- ootedodjaoent thereto and in position to have the Mounted 01% the Outer suffe@ @fille Cosme l y Wtel; from the 'Water discharge. Sput oW either below the stationary trough Il 1s a circular trough intoV the'washing machine or into` either of said 24 Supporeq the block; 25 on tlextemor tubotho position of the spout boiogindioeted'b 0f the 33mg SC" that t 1S Singh may-be 4" l rotated about the casing, and this trough has at dotted lines adJacent to the two tubs. n .one Side a discharge spout M .Flgure 4 ,Shows a' Vertlca'l entral 'Sectlonal By means of the mechanism just described it is View of our improved clothes drier with the cover Obvious that Water tbl-own outwardly from the shown' in a slightly elevated position and by dotupper end of the Casing Wm be Collected in the 50 ted 111195 in' fully Open DOSOD, and the CIO'GheS trough Il and will then drip into the trough 24 container'raised and tilted slightly` to one side and vmay be discharged through the spout 26 in against the friction device for stopping its any direction. In Figure 3 the spout is shownas rotation. 1 discharging back into the Washing machine and i *Figure shows 'an' inverted plan View illustratby dotted lines its position is shown as being able 55 to discharge into either of the two tubs 21 and 28.

In this connection attention is called to the fact that by means of this construction a very useful and advantageous combined table and drain board is formed, and without in any way interfering with any of the ordinary functions of a centrifugal drier of this character.

Clothes may be placed on the table either before or after going Athrough the extractor, and if any water should drain from them, it will all go back into the extractor, and this improved table differs from the drain board devices now in general use in which the water discharged from the clothes drier fiows over the drain board to a point of discharge, whereas with our improvement none of this water discharged from the extractor gets to the table.

Fixed to the shaft |4 is a clothes container 23 of the ordinary construction and provided with an outwardly extended flange 30 at its upper end. At the central portion of the container We have provided a perforated tube 3| open at its top for forming a downward passageway for air which may then move outwardly through the clothes and upwardly to a point of discharge.

Mounted on top of the clothes container is a circular flange 32 fixed to the container by bolts 33. This flange, as is clearly shown in the inverted plan view in Figure 5, is provided with a series of grooves 34, which grooves are inclined rearwardly and outwardly relative to the path of movement of the flange, as indicated by the arrow in Figure 5. These grooves, as will be seen on reference to Figure l, form a passageway to conduct air outwardly between the anges 30 and 32, and by having them inclined as shown in Figure 5, one wall of the groove functions as an impeller blade to force air outwardly when the clothes container is being rapidly rotated.

In the operation of this part of the device, and assuming that the clothes container is filled with wet clothes, then during the first part of the operation, the water is extracted from the clothes by centrifugal action and moves upwardly and outwardly through the grooves 34. When this has proceeded to a certain extent, a certain amount of water is held in the clothes by capillary action and cannot be removed by the centrifugal action of this machine. In some instances it is very desirable to dry the clothes to a greater extent than can be done by the centrifugal action alone.

With our improvement a continued rotation of the clothes container will cause air to be forced outwardly through the grooves 34 both by centrifugal action and the impeller-blade-like action of the grooves 34, and this will cause air to be drawn into the upper part of the perforated tube 3| and downwardly in said tube and then outwardly through the clothes and upwardly to a point of discharge, and we have found in actual practice that clothes may be dried within a reasonable time to a point where they are ready for ironing.

Mounted upon the under side of the hinged cover 2| is a ball bearing device indicated generally by the numeral 35, and a centering cover 36 is rotatably supported by said ball bearing device on the under side of the hinged cover 2|. 'I'he lower surface of the centering cover 36 is inclined downwardly and toward the center, as shown in Fig. l, and coacts with the flange 32 so that as the centering cover is moved downwardly, it will tilt the upper end of the clothes container and the flange 32 in the direction required for centering the clothes container within the casing and the cover 36 will rotate with the clothes container.

On the inner surface of the casing is provided a series of friction devices preferably in the form of a rubber block 31. 'I'hese friction devices are positioned slightly spaced apart from the exterior of the clothes container 29 when centered. When the cover 36 is removed from its contact with the flange 32, then the clothes container will tilt laterally far enough to engage one or more of these friction blocks.

With this part of the device, and in actual practice we have demonstrated that when the clothes container is running at its maximum, say for instance one thousand revolutions per minute, and then the centering cover 36 should be suddenly elevated, the upper end of the clothes container will tilt laterally into engagement with said friction blocks, and this will cause the rotation thereof to be stopped almost instantly.

In addition to this we have provided a spring 38 pressed upwardly against the lower end of the clothes container, and so arranged that when the cover 36 is elevated, the shaft |4 will be slightly elevated, and this will move the friction wheel I5 on the lower end of the shaft out of driving contact with the coacting friction wheel I6, so that the container is instantly and automatically stopped in its rotation when the centering cover 36 is elevated, and is then automatically retained out of driving contact with the driving friction wheel. This we have found to be of great benefit in avoiding accidents both to operators and to the machine itself, and no objectionable results follow if the cover is raised at the time the clothes container is rotating at normal speed.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotary clothes container having means for discharging water outwardly from its upper end, a casing in which the clothes container is supported, an annular trough device fixed to the top of the casing and shaped to receive water discharged from the clothes container and having an opening in its bottom portion, a work table and cover supported by said trough device, and a second annular trough having a discharge spout and movably mounted below the first trough device to rotate concentrically of the first trough and to receive water therefrom.

2. In a machine of the class described, a clothes container, a drive shaft fixed to its lower end, a support for the shaft shaped to permit it to move lengthwise and to tilt laterally, a friction drive wheel fixed to the lower end of the shaft, a spring for moving the container upwardly, a cover, means for holding the cover in position with the container moved downwardly against the pressure of said spring, said parts being so arranged that when the cover is raised, the spring will raise the friction drive wheel, and stationary friction devices adjacent to the outer surface of the container and in position to be engaged by the container when the container is tilted to thereby stop its rotation.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotary clothes container having means for discharging water outwardly from its upper end, a casing in which the clothes container is supported, an annular trough fixed to the top end of the casing and spaced a slight distance from the outer walls of said casing and shaped to receive water discharged from the clothes container and having a series of inclined openings in its bottom, a. second annular trough supported below the rst annular trough having its side walls overlapping the side walls of the rst annular trough, means `for mounting said second trough to permit it to move concentrically of the first trough, and a discharge spout carried by the first annular trough.

4. In a device of the class described, a vertical casing, an annular trough carried by the upper end of said casing having discharge openings in its bottom, a second annular trough rotatively mounted about said casing and beneath the rst trough, and a discharge spout for said second annular trough.

5. In a device of the class described, a vertical casing, an annular trough carried by the upper end of said casing having discharge openings in its bottom, a second annular trough rotatively mounted about said casing and beneath the rst trough, a discharge spout for said second annular trough, a table carried by the rst trough having a central opening, the bottom of said table being inclined downwardly and inwardly and having its outer edge provided with an upwardly extending flange, said table being considerably larger in diameter than said casing.

CHARLES G. ADSIT. GEORGE W. LEWIS. 

